After spending months as a training boat at the Italian Submarine school near Pula, Emo had been reassigned to wartime patrols when the Allied landings occurred. Now she was in for a little real time training by the Royal Navy, and these experienced destroyer Captains would be very hard schoolmasters. Destroyer Gurkha, under Lieutenant Commander Charles Lentaigne, was the first to pick up the scent. His ship was living an extended life, having avoided being sunk off Egypt by U-133. Now Emo was trying to get at this Zombie ship, but her first two torpedoes missed, running too deep, right beneath the British destroyer.
Gurkha had been an unlucky name, the third British destroyer to be so designated, with the first two Tribal class ships sunk earlier in the war. This one was an L-Class ship, again renamed Gurkha, and she was quick to lay down her depth charges, her commander elated when he saw obvious signs of damage come to the surface after his run. Just to be sure, he came round for another run, pressing his luck when he shouldn’t have. This resulted in a malfunctioning depth charge, which exploded much too soon and too shallow, putting damage on his own ship! Now he was forced to break off and head for a friendly port in Spain, but he had the consolation of knowing he had taught Emo a lesson when he was informed that submarine had been confirmed as sunk.
Meanwhile, off to the east, Admiral Tovey had given the order for his battle group to slow to 15 knots. He was waiting for the slower American battleships, trailing his formation by 16 nautical miles, and he was also waiting for the sun, which would not rise until 7:45 that morning. He reasoned that in another two hours, his force would be roughly 50 nautical miles due north of Algiers, and very likely in contact with the enemy just before dawn.
But Adler had other ideas, and after effecting his rendezvous with the Italians, he lined up like a steel squall line and headed west at high speed, intending to engage well before sunrise to neutralize the British advantage.
It was not long before Argos Fire reported a group of four contacts due east of Tovey’s position, no more than 18 nautical miles out. That was over 36,000 yards, and well beyond engagement range, but that would close very quickly as the two sides approached one another.
“Send word to HMS Formidible,” said Tovey. “We might want to give those new Barracudas a little night action.”
The two sides were now lining up against one another like two formations of heavy cavalry. On the Axis side, Hindinburg and Fredric de Gross were side by side, separated by a little over two miles. Roma and Impero were two to three miles further south. Tovey allowed the range to close, receiving regular reports from his own Type 274 radar now. At 05:00 he was about 12 nautical miles, or some 24,000 yards northeast of Hindenburg, still holding his fire at that range considering the darkness, but the tension was mounting as both sides came on.
“Mister Connors,” said Tovey. “You may begin finding the range. Target that closest ship.”
“Aye sir,” said Connors. “Type 274 is sending us good numbers. I have the range and bearing dialed in. Rangekeepers should have it in a second or two. The boom of those 16-inch guns was heard soon after. Hindenburg had fired at almost the exact same time, and the big shells passed one another in flight, steel demons of the night, off on their missions of mayhem. The British opening salvo would miss by 500 yards, but Bruno turret on the Hindenburg put its rounds very close, one a little over 100 feet off the starboard bow of the Invincible, which prompted Tovey to raise an eyebrow.
“Come left rudder, and five points to port,” he ordered. “Ahead thirty knots.” He had Duke of York and King George V in line behind him, and now he was turning not only to throw off the enemy fire and complicate their range finding for the next salvo, but also to give those ships a line of sight on the enemy ahead. “We’ll want to do a little better Mister Connors,” he said.
Connors did not disappoint. He was working his table men intensely, ordering them to drop 500 yards, account for the speed and course change. The boom of the guns rattled the window as his second salvo fired. A long minute later they saw the results down range, a hit, which sent the men on the bridge to cheering. That was most unusual this early in an engagement.
Hindenburg’s lighter guns began filling the gaps between main battery salvoes, and the sea was erupting with those smaller caliber rounds, one well inside a hundred feet. The range fell to eight nautical miles, about 16,000 yards, and the main guns fired again. In that interval, Hindenburg landed a few jabs with her secondary guns, but damage to Invincible was light, her heavy armor taking most of the hits and simply shrugging them off.
Soon the thunder of Duke of York was heard aft, as she now had a good fix on the target with her weapons directors, and began to engage. Off to the south, the cruiser Bermuda joined the action, her guns good for harassment if nothing else. Captain Sanford on Sir Lancelot was also there, about a mile and a half behind Sir Percival, and he began weighing in on Hindenburg with his new 10-inch main batteries.
The roar of gunfire rolled over the dark sea, and white smoke billowed in the moonlight. Tovey could feel the speed of his ship, engines making 30 knots now as he angled to port to enable C-turret to get into the action as well. The chink of Hindenburg’s small caliber rounds was sharp on the side armor of the ship as they turned, but the damage was minimal.
“A rain of steel,” said Tovey, exhilarated. The last time he had met this adversary, it had cost the ship, and the Allied cause, dearly. Tovey had that in his mind now, Admiral Volsky’s sacrifice still heavy on him.
So many good men had died that hour, Captain Bennett, the ship’s Helmsman, Executive Officer, Senior Watch Officer, all struck dead. He might have joined them in that silent death, but for the brave actions of Admiral Volsky, who gave his life to save the ship, and Tovey’s along with it. Here was his time to avenge that loss.
He had four ships directing murderous fire at the German warship, while off to the south, the American battleship Massachusetts had come on the scene and was now dueling with Fredric de Gross. That ship had been in a running gun battle with Sir Percival, which had then turned hard to starboard to run south. ‘Percy’ was holding firm, but she had taken one bad hit from those French 15-inch quad turrets up front, and her Captain was suddenly grateful when the enemy ship shifted fire to the Americans.
With the range now closing towards 12,000 meters, Hindenburg took yet another main gun hit, this time from Sanford’s ship, Sir Lancelot. The bold Knight had stuck her with an arrow, and Sanford’s cheeks reddened with the excitement of that hit. Mister Laurence stood stoically by his side, hands clasped behind his back, watching the battle closely. He could see their present course, steering about 100 degrees southeast, would eventually run them right across the bow of the American battleship Massachusetts. He was about to mention this, but then he saw the American ship execute a turn to starboard, and now the two ships were running parallel to one another.
The fire put in by Duke of York was soon augmented by that of King George V, and now the thinking behind the deployment made prior to the battle was beginning to decide its outcome. Tovey had kept his three battleships in a line, advancing like a javelin towards the enemy, and north of the Hindenburg. He then strung out his cruisers, including Sir Lancelot and Sir Percival, south in a front opposing the enemy charge. Massachusetts had come up to bolster that line as well.
This saw all three of Tovey’s battleships engaging Hindenburg, one after another, while Fredric de Gross, Impero and Roma were all locked in gun duels with the Allied cruisers and the US battleship. The German battleship was getting pounded. Both the King George V class ships began to get hits, and soon fires were raging on Adler’s ship, though none of his main guns had been compromised, and he was still running at 29 knots. Yet those fires were serious, and they were going to get worse before they got better.
Seeing what was happening, Adler ordered Hindenburg to come hard to port, wanting to turn south, away from the northerly turn he saw the British battle line making. His thought was to add the mass of his own ship
to pile on and get that American battleship, and also escape that terrible fire put on his ship by the British. Then HMS Invincible scored a most damaging hit, penetrating the forward deck, and plunging deeply into the ship to reach the magazine for Anton turret, exploding heavily. It would have been a very bad day for Axel Faust had he been there, but he was now seven miles to the south, aboard Fredric de Gross.
The explosion was so fierce that it literally ripped open the starboard side hull of the Hindenburg, with one round after another going off in a cacophony of raging hot metal, fire and smoke. That one telling blow had achieved the vengeance Tovey had come to bring, and it was going to end the career of Germany’s largest warship then and there. Hindenburg was shipping tons of water, the incoming flood so heavy that the crews could not get the watertight doors shut. The sea surged in, flooding the magazine and stopping the chaos of fire there, but now the great warship was rolling heavily to starboard, down at the bow and swinging into a heavy list. Behind that forward flooding, the superstructure of the ship had been ravaged by fire, though the two rear turrets continued to fire until the heavy list saw their guns unable to elevate.
Aboard HMS Invincible, there was an audible gasp throughout the bridge crew when they saw the great grey mass of the enemy ship roll over. Hindenburg capsized at 05:20, the guns forever silent, and now she lay heavily upon the dark swelling sea, undersides exposed like the belly of a massive whale stricken by some fatal malady and floating on the surface, a lifeless hulk. The hiss of white steam rose above the ship, as the fires amidships were swamped by the sea. Tovey raised his binoculars, taking a deep breath.
At last, he said inwardly. That was for Bennett and Slocum, Harvey and Jones, and more than anything, that was for Admiral Volsky, the man who preserved my life, and the life of this ship to bring me here again to lay heavy hands upon you in the dark. That was for Prince of Wales off Fuerteventura, and for brave Rodney, harboring that bloody key and never knowing it. That was for Renown, broken and sunk in that same battle, and for Repulse on crutches, and likely never to walk again. It was for every ship that went down in that last convoy to Murmansk, and by God, we’ll get to the Tirpitz in time. And if Bismarck ever shows me her bow wash, that bastard will get the same.
Out there in that wrecked hulk of a battleship, he imagined Captain Adler and his men scrambling for survival, and in spite of the hardness on his heart now, he ordered all ships in his task force to cease fire. We’ll not hit a man when he’s down, he thought. For those that can get into the sea and get hold of something to stay afloat, God be with you. As for me, my place was to be the Devil incarnate, demon on the sea, the hot steel hand of retribution.
As for Kapitan Adler, given the command of Germany’s most formidable battleship, his yearning for battle had finally been quenched. He had seen his mentor, Admiral Lütjens die in combat, and now he would join him, shaken by the sudden hammer blow his ship had been struck, and the massive damage that was caused by that magazine explosion. Once he had felt his ship to be invulnerable, and after he had smashed HMS Invincible in the jaw when they last met, and sent the pride of the Royal Navy wallowing to the corner on unsteady legs, he had every confidence that he would prevail. Yet the body punch delivered by Tovey’s ship was so heavy, that Adler’s ship would die that hour, and he would die with it….
There came a lull in the action as Tovey’s three battleships continued their turn to the north. Then they heard the thunder rolling up from the south, where the American Battleship Massachusetts was in much a similar situation as the Hindenburg. Impero and Roma had come on the scene, and now they joined Fredric de Gross, putting in enough fire to force that ship to turn and attempt to disengage. The American ship took five main gun hits, three on her side armor, which held up well, but two on the superstructure, seeing damage to secondary batteries, her seaplane bay and launchers, and lifeboats wrecked and on fire amidships.
Yet the awareness of what had just happened to Hindenburg finally sunk in all down the line, and it prompted Admiral Heye to make a sharp turn to the south. He did not want his ship to be next in the line to receive the attention of those three British battleships. Seeing the American battleship turning to break off, he ordered the same. Roma and Impero saw his ship turn, and they began to come around to keep formation.
Off to their south, the American cruisers Tuscaloosa, Wichita and Philadelphia had come upon three French destroyers, sinking two of them, and sending the last one running for Algiers. Now they turned to come round with the Massachusetts, damaged but still running soundly at 21 knots.
That was the battle. The bang became a whimper, and all that remained on the scene were a flight of six Barracudas, finally making their way in the dark and swooping over the stricken carcass of the Hindenburg like vultures. They could see that ship was doomed, and so broke off to try their luck on Fredric de Gross, but the AA defense on the ex-Normandie was fierce and unrelenting. Four of the six planes would be shot down, the last two breaking off and running for HMS Formidable.
The result of this action would send all the heavy metal on the Axis side back to home ports. Heye would sail for Toulon, the Italians back to La Spezia, and by so doing, the Axis fleet would concede the Western Med to the Allies for the near run, and possibly forever. The convoy then at sea carrying British troops to Oran would arrive in good order, and days later, the US 34th Division near Algiers would get some much needed help.
The battler for Algeria was on.
Raeder took the news very hard. The damnable Royal Navy had triple teamed the pride of the fleet, he thought, and this was a very heavy blow. Hitler would likely go through the roof, and rail on and on about the useless battleships he ordered me to build. If we could have built six of them as originally planned, then the Royal Navy would be weeping tonight. This time the tears are mine, and the bitter dregs. My only consolation was the fact that both our carriers, and Kaiser Wilhelm, were far from the scene of this action.
What was Adler thinking fighting a pre-dawn battle like that? He was worried that the sun would silhouette him, but with that same sun the Stukas and He-111s would have launched in droves from Algiers. He could have fought his battle under good air cover, but now all is lost. Without Hindenburg, holding the Med will be most difficult. And as usual, the Italians were of little help. They reportedly drove off that American battleship, and those new British heavy cruisers, but sunk nothing. Fredric de Gross survived, but now the loss of Hindenburg sends my spirits to their lowest ebb in this war. The Canaries are gone, all my plans there shattered. We’ve lost Casablanca, and the French are gone, leaving us a few good ships we can struggle to man.
Damn, he thought. I will be lucky to retain command of the fleet, and luckier if Hitler doesn’t order all my building programs to halt. Hindenburg is lost, and there will never be another like it, but its brother Brandenburg will soon be ready, only as the finest aircraft carrier the world has ever seen. Will it suffer a similar fate?
We shall see….
Part VI
Tigers East!
“When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
—William Blake
Chapter 16
After his successful defensive action on the line of the Don, Balck’s 11th Panzer Division, and 23rd Panzer had been in reserve at Millerovo, but he was soon handed a new mission. Von Knobelsdorff came in and told him he was heading south.
“We need to secure the bridgeheads in the Donets Bend, Kamensk and Belaya Kalivta. The enemy has been stubborn at Voroshilovgrad, and we haven’t the infantry to conduct a street fight with them there. They have been relying on the fact that the Donets Bend is not threatened at the moment, and so they only
have light screening forces there. We are about to change that.”
“You realize our Korps is the only mobile reserve behind the entire line of the lower Don?”
“Of course I realize that, but your intervention earlier, and the arrival of 14th Panzer Korps, has stabilized this front. Von Wietersheim will hold the line now. We must be off to other business.”
“Very well,” said Balck. “Where do you want my division?”
“Totenkopf has pushed over the river at Belaya Kalivta. They were supposed to be refitting back there, so you will relieve them, cross at Kamensk and push on to Sukovo. That will clear the rail line, which dips below the river before it heads west for Volgograd. Steiner’s supply situation there is not good, so we must open that rail line. No less than nine railway engineer regiments have been sent to get that line up and running before the weather turns bad. We will need it this winter.”
It was still high summer, the early September heat heavy on the steppe, but Balck understood. General Winter had been very hard on the Army in 1941, and he would be campaigning again, and all too soon.
“We still have six to eight weeks,” said von Knobelsdorff. “In that time I want to secure the east end of the Donetz Basin, and move on Rostov from that direction.”
“Will Totenkopf operate with us?”
“I’m afraid not. They are being recalled to the Kalach bridgehead, along with the Wiking Division for the push on Volgograd. Steiner needs everything he can get his hands on. But 16th Motorized has been operating independently there, and it will now be added to our Korps. I intend to take Rostov.”
Tigers East (Kirov Series Book 25) Page 13